Inder Kumar Gujral, a mild-mannered, left-leaning liberal, dies at age of 92

Dec 1, 2012, 12.42AM ISTTNN

If Inder Kumar Gujral’s 10-month stint as prime minister did not amount to much, it was largely because of the rickety United Front coalition government that he led: it was chronically crisis-ridden, very often being rushed into intensive care. It’s doubtful if a greater helmsman could have steered this iceberg-hit ship.

NEW DELHI: If Inder Kumar 'Ike' Gujral's 10-month stint as prime minister did not amount to much, it was largely because of the rickety United Front coalition government that he led: it was chronically crisis-ridden, very often being rushed into intensive care. It's doubtful if a greater helmsman could have steered this iceberg-hit ship.

However, this didn't prevent Ike, who died in a Gurgaon hospital on Friday after a multi-organ failure at the age of 92, from seizing the fleeting moment to mainstream the "Gujral doctrine" advocating unilateralism in India-Pakistan affairs. The mild-mannered, Left-leaning liberal politician's formulation was straightforward enough. As the more mature and confident democracy, India needed to reach out to Pakistan without getting bogged by the wait for reciprocal gestures.

If India could clearly announce its friendly intent, the fog of distrust between the two squabbling nations could lift a bit, he felt. The doctrine could be extended to other neighbours too, all of whom are dwarfed by India's land mass as well as its cultural and economic dominance.

Many would call Gujral an accidental PM. Deve Gowda had lost the vote and left shaking his head grimly at "treacherous friends". It was for Gujral to carry out a holding operation until the political class was ready the next election. He did it gamely, and wisely focused on his 'big' idea - the Gujral doctrine - while he was in the hot seat.

The idea, alluring as it sounded, had limited takers. Hard-nosed career diplomats, right-wingers and a large slice of the political class were not prepared to overlook the unremitting hostility of Islamabad. "Do not trust without verifying," they said. And not without reason. For, soon after A B Vajpayee's first aborted shot at prime ministership as Ike gave way, the Kargil War followed.

Gujral had a fair inkling that his tenure was likely to be brief and would, in a friendly mien, suggest that colleagues make their future plans. He once told Goa leader Ramakant Khalap, then law minister, to consider becoming a judge. A file awaiting his signature for the appointment of a lawyer as judge meanwhile remained unattended.

His avuncular air and clipped beard lent Gujral a kindly look. A soft spoken person, he appeared a throwback to a gentler age amid the rough and tumble of caste politics that propelled Janata Dal and leaders like Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav centre stage in the Ninetees.

His becoming PM was fortuitous. After Congress chief Sitaram Kesri forced H D Deve Gowda to quit, a fierce succession battle erupted. Just as it seemed Mulayam might make it as PM with the backing of the late CPM stalwart Harkishen Singh Surjeet, Lalu threw a spanner in the works. "The two sumo wrestlers checkmated one another," a former JD leader recalled.

As the hunt began for a compromise, fate intervened and Surjeet left for China for an eye procedure. Gujral later confided that this facilitated in the making of India's 12th prime minister - himself.